Kimmie's performance sounds like the younger Asada's performance at Japanese Nationals. You can download it off of Cruella DeKwan's site. I think it's kind of early to talk about Kimmie winning Nationals next year. For one thing, I don't think the judges are going to rank her first over Sasha and MK. Also, just b/c she hits these jumps in a club competition doesn't mean she'll rock them at Nats. I saw an exhibition program from her and she fell on the 3 lutz. However if Kimmie can stay healthy, she's going to be in the mix for 2010. I bet that by 2010, most of the ladies will have 3 axels with the winner having a quad.

MasterB:
Asada is a scary little girl. However none of the girls jump like Midori. Midori got monster height and hang time on her jumps. Most of the girls rotate fast to complete the jump.

Hmm. I can't decide if all this jumping news is good or not. I'm not really thrilled at how jumps seem to be the end all be all of winning. Pushing those jumps have really hurt skaters. Take Naomi Nari Nam for example, that girl had so much star potential. One injury and she's fighting just to get back to nationals. But then again Timmy summed it up, even if you aren't willing to risk it, someone else is. But congrats to Kimmie. I hope she can continue to be successful and make a huge splash at nationals this year. And by the looks of it, the years leading to 2010 may be ruled by Kimmie, Katy (who is also working on the 3axel I believe), MIki Ando, and Mao Asada (who I think is going to surpass Ando because her presentation is already much better than Ando)

Won't she be 16 by the time the Olys roll around? That will be the perfect age for a gold medal. Check out the history of the Olys.

I saw her skate at Jr. Nats lst January. She is good and so is her rival, Katy Taylor. Did Katy skate in this competition? I think the two of them have int'l assignments this coming season.

If Kimmie is eligible for the 06 Olys, she and Taylor will be contenders. They have the age in their favor. The two top USA skaters are performance oriented. I think the young jumpers will be at the top if allowed to skate.

And, completely off topic, when will she lose the "Kimmie"? It's cute at 14, it won't be so cute much longer. Or am I being catty?

OT, but "Johnny" drives me crazy as well. Is he a cute 14 year old girl, or does he just skate like one? Is "Katy" Taylor's full name, or is she Katherine or something? I Have no Idea if Meissner's name is indeed Kimberly. I once knew a guy named Matt. No, it wasn't a nick-name for Mathew, his parents had legally named him Matt. They were from CA.

OT, but "Johnny" drives me crazy as well. Is he a cute 14 year old girl, or does he just skate like one? Is "Katy" Taylor's full name, or is she Katherine or something? I Have no Idea if Meissner's name is indeed Kimberly. I once knew a guy named Matt. No, it wasn't a nick-name for Mathew, his parents had legally named him Matt. They were from CA.

Any girl who could skate like Johnny would be the Olympic Champion, imo.

I think it's great that Kimmie can land all these jumps, and I think she is a contender, but maybe not just yet. She has excellent presentation skills for a girl her age, but not measured against seniors like Kwan, Cohen or Arakawa.

Kimmie is only 14, and will not turn 15 until October, so she won't be eligible for the senior GP and Olympics and senior Worlds until the 2005-2006 season. The big question is what will happen when (and if) her body starts to mature? We've seen what the puberty monster has done to Carolina Kostner, Louann Donovan, and now even Cynthia Phaneuf, who skated poorly at Liberty. It remains to be seen if growth will affect Kimmie's technique, and force her to retrain her jumps. She could get lucky and stay tiny, like Tara. But as others have pointed out, even though Tara stayed tiny, she overtrained and injured herself. Let's hope Kimmie won't fall into that trap.

Regarding the name issue, I belive I read on Unseen Skaters that she now lists herself as "Kimberly" for competitions, not Kimmie.

I don't think either Meissner or Taylor will likely be on the 2006 Olympic Team. Neither one will have exposure at Worlds the year before, and even Grand Prix placements are unlikely to get them Olympic spots if Cohen, Kirk, Kwan and others skate clean. USFS will not send "semi-unknowns" (to international judges) to the O's when they have well known quantities who are very competitive. Even Taylor and Meissner themselves have set their sights on 2010, not 2006.

The USFSA did send Sasha Cohen to the Olympics and she didn't have Worlds experience. There's no doubt in my mind that MK (if she continues) and Sasha will be on the Olympic team. However Kirk does not have the results and I highly doubt that Kirk will be in it for a medal at the Olympic games. I can see the USFSA sending a Kimmie or Katy just to give them experience at a high level. Also Kimmie/Katy have a shot at surprising everyone and winning a medal. At this time, I have more faith in Kimmie in getting a medal or even posting a top 5 finish at the Olympics than Jenny Kirk.

Kirk is not a lock for the Olympic team. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Amber got the nod to go to Worlds next year.

I wouldn't be surprised If the USFSA sent an unknown to the Olys, they've done it for years (Owen in 60, Lynn in 68, Fratianne in 76, Lenz in 80). Just as long as they have Kwan and Cohen as two very strong candidates for gold, the 3rd person isn't that big a deal.

That having been said, in 02 Cohen had 2 whole GP season under her belt, which is different than Kimmie and Katy who will only have the 05-06 season if they are invited.

Also, are the Junior event judges really different judges that the senior event ones? Will Junior world medalist really be strangers to senior international judges?